Evening Brief: Not playing politics

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes a face at five-month-old Aislin Watson, right, as he meets with people at the Caldense Bakery in Bradford, Ont., on Friday, July 20, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

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Good evening to you.

The Lead:

We begin today with verbal sparring between prime ministers. Justin Trudeau shot down an allegation from former Conservative PM Stephen Harper that he’s resisting making a NAFTA deal with the United States in order to reap the political reward of standing up to Donald Trump.

Speaking in Markham, Trudeau said he remains committed to getting a deal and plans to continue to call on people from across party lines as the negotiations continue.

“I think I’ve been very clear for a long time now that the issue of trade with the United States and our relationship with the United States is far too important to play partisan politics with,” he said.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Jose Luis Magana

His comments come on the heels of a news report last night where Harper took aim at Trudeau and his office for the current state of the trade relationship, in an audio recording of Harper speaking at a private luncheon hosted by the Australia-Canada Economic Leadership Forum in Montreal on July 11.

“The reality is that the Government of Canada believes today that it is doing very well, the fight with Trump is good for it politically, it is winning,” Harper said. More from CTV News.

In Canada:

Also not up for playing? Doug Ford. In New Brunswick, the Ontario Premier Doug Ford said today he isn’t “going to play politics” with Trudeau’s slam against conservatives made after this week’s cabinet shuffle at Rideau Hall.

At the closing council of the federation news conference, next to the rest of Canada’s premiers, Ford was asked by a reporter about what he made of Trudeau’s comment Wednesday that conservatives are “playing the fear card” when it comes to asylum seekers and immigration. The prime minister called it a “dangerous game” that pits Canadians “against each other.”

Ford declined to wade in. “That’s his comments,” Ford said. “I’m not going to play politics with that whatsoever.” Instead, he talked up the premiers’ meeting as a success. More details from Kyle Duggan.

Heads up, Tucker Carlson. The premiers are coming! Frustrated by their inability to stem the rise of new U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, Canada’s premiers say they want to speak directly to Americans by appearing on the television shows they watch. They want to challenge the influential commentators on popular news shows such as those on Fox News, to deliver a message that protectionism will hurt both countries. Rather than focusing their lobbying efforts on politicians in Washington and state capitals – as they’ve done since Donald Trump’s election as President – they will shift their efforts toward winning over “grassroots” Americans who are free-trade skeptics. That story from The Globe and Mail.

On other important fronts, the premiers struck a deal to allow increased flow of beer, alcohol across provincial borders. And we say cheers to that!

In Ottawa, the federal government is bulking up Treasury Board with two new deputy ministers as part of the bureaucratic team being out together to support new ministerial portfolios and created out of this week’s cabinet shuffle. More from Kathryn May.

Meanwhile on the farm, Canada’s agriculture ministers said today existing safety nets are ready to help farmers weather increased trade volatility, including the escalating global trade war that has the country’s farm community nervous. ‘There’s a framework in place with the Canadian Agricultural Partnership now,” federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said. “And, if there are problems, I’m not going to speculate on what those problems might be, but in general the agricultural sector is doing quite well … there is a system in place to make sure that if we hit any major problems that we’re able to deal with it.” Kelsey Johnson has that story from Vancouver.

Turning to pot, cannabis producers will be eligible for federal agriculture funding once the drug is legalized in October. Federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers have been meeting on the West coast this week for their annual gathering where they agreed the marijuana industry can apply for some federal monies and support, at the discretion of the provinces and territories. Johnson reports.

Still with ag: The federal government needs to find ways to make this country’s suite of agricultural safety nets more equitable for producers, easier to use, and find ways to cover off existing gaps in coverage. Those are some of the recommendations put forward by an external advisory panel that reviewed the tools designed to help Canadian farmers mitigate production and economic risk. Johnson has that story as well.

The Liberal government says it doesn’t need to create a new federal adviser on anti-microbial resistance. The House of Commons health committee recommended in May the government should appoint an adviser who would be a “national champion for combatting anti-microbial resistance.” That was after experts had “overwhelmingly called for federal leadership and coordination” and told MPs that Canada currently lacks a “national voice” on the matter, the committee report said. But the government says it already has someone who fits that description. Duggan reports.

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that four RCMP officers accused of misconduct in the investigation of the Surrey Six execution-style shootings cannot disclose details that might reveal the identities of confidential sources to their lawyers. Leslie MacKinnon has that story.

So it turns out there are tapes. The New York Times reported today that Michael Cohen, a longtime lawyer and fixer for U.S. President Donald Trump, secretly recorded Trump discussing paying Playboy model Karen McDougal ahead of the 2016 election to keep her from talking about their alleged relationship more than a decade earlier.

You might want to get your popcorn ready, as the best part is that this isn’t the only tape. Stormy Daniels’s attorney Michael Avenatti said Cohen has several audio recordings of Trump discussing women who have come forward after allegedly having affairs with him.

Meanwhile, the White House is facing mounting pressure to disclose details of Trump’s discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a controversial one-on-one meeting in Helsinki. Little surprise, not much is being disclosed.

Finally today, guess who’s hopping the pond? On the heels of the tantruming toddler’s incredibly well-received floats above London and in Scotland last week, a plan is afoot to bring the 20-foot-tall baby Trump blimp stateside. As NPR reports, organizers say they’ve garnered so much support, they’ll use the money raised to buy multiple blimps “so we can go coast-to-coast, border-to-border.” Maybe if there’s enough money to go around, they can float one across the Canadian border.